The ratings for the Grammy Awards were down 28 percent from last year, and were the lowest they've had since 1995. Other awards shows have had similarly low ratings lately.

As much as I love music I haven't watched the Grammys in recent years, and with new episodes of the Simpsons and Desperate Housewives on I certainly wasn't going to watch them last night. I don't watch any of the other awards shows either, although I tend to peek at the Oscars from time to time each year.

Joe

I haven't watched the Grammy's since I was in college. A freshman in college. In 1990. Essentially, I don't care to spend 3 hours watching something that isn't a) The Best Porno EVER or The Lord of the Rings. (Shut up) or c) The Best Football Game EVER. Doling out award after award to poptartlet/gayboitoi of the week and watching tired performance after tired performance is not my idea of fun. Not to mention, I think the Grammy's are a sham award (I also hate watching the Oscars, so there you go).

Besides, did anyone really think folks were gonna give up Desperate Housewives for the Shammies??

I watched the Grannies, er, Grammys and they were okay. Who would have thought, though, that they would let Green Day sing about "faggot America" on national television. That was the best performance of the night by far. Ray Charles...a "grave" injustice. Ha ha ha

The pre-Grammy Red Carpet show with Kathy Griffin was way better than the Grammys.

Kathy is hilarious to me, and a perfect contrast to the unintentionally hilarious Star Jones (aka Mrs. Reynolds) who also hosts the Red Carpet show on E!

Kathy would ask everyone, "What are you wearing?" And they'd reply with something like, "This is Roberto Cavalli," or "I'm wearing Versace tonight," and Kathy would always say, "Me too," no matter what they said.

She asked Joss Stone, "So, who do you think we're most likely to hear lip-sync tonight?," and Joss replied, "Definitely J-Lo."

Kathy asked a couple of different performers, "So what are you working on?," and they'd reply with the tiles of their latest CDs, but Kathy would interrupt and say, "No, I meant in therapy." It was hilarious because these singers had no clue.

Another time she was talking to a group -- I think it was The Killers -- and she goes, "So who do you think's going to win Project Runway?" and they obviously had no clue what she was talking about. Kathy goes, "The looks on your faces tell me it's Kara Saun." And then she just dismissed them.

Kathy Griffin rocks. If you like her and haven't picked up her new DVD, "Allegedly," you should do it.

Those shows in general are a huge snooze. As a matter of fact, I consider it better time spent to be sleeping instead of watching those programs. Maybe if I were winning an award, I'd feel differently. Kathy Griffin did indeed provide a breath of fresh air into an otherwise stale awards show. I should have tuned in just to see her on the carpet.

We had the show on the TV at the bar Sunday but without the audio. I wish I had seen two parts, one for greqat drama, the other for great comedy-Melissa Etheridge blowing the crowd away with her Janis Joplin tribute and J Lo apparently making Ashlee Simpson seem talented during her note-challenged duet with hsuband Marc Anthony.

As for awards shows in general, I watch the Oscars because somebody I know almost always has an Oscar party. I'll also watch the Emmys if my favorite shows are up. Otherwise the notion of celebrities giving themselves yet another award is just so gross and unsavory. In the past month or two we've had People's Choice, Screen Actors Guild, American Music Awards, Golden Globes, Critic's Choice Awards and many more that aren't even televised. I guess people must still tune in though because the networks wouldn't broadcast them if they weren't making some money. Well except the Tonys!

There are too many awards shows, agreed. But I think the Grammys have always struggled a bit in comparison to the Oscars ... remember several years ago when they decided they made a conscious effort to be more in touch with current music after Jethro Tull won "Best Metal Album" or something odd like that?

I do think this year's dive in the ratings has alot to do with Desperate Housewives. We watched the first hour, switched to Housewives, and then switched back just in time to see Melissa kick butt.

The quality of the performances this year were top-notch, J-Lo/Marc Anthony duet and butchering of "Across the Universe" notwithstanding. But Alicia Keys, U2, Franz Ferdinand, Maroon 5, Melissa Etheridge, John Mayer ... all those guys were great. It's a shame more people didn't watch.

The "Desperate Housewives" audience may have depressed the numbers for this year's Grammmys, but I'd add the niche marketing of music & the explosion of televised award shows as the major reasons why the Grammy audiences have been shrinking. If one is a country music listener (as an example,) one can watch the Country Music Association or the Academy of Country Music shows, Latin music lovers can view the Latin Grammys, hip hop followers have the Vibe awards, etc. Sadly, there are no televised awards that focus on jazz or classical music & the Grammys--which prides itself as being the sole award show to be a celebration of all forms of music--always shortchanges them.

~Adam